Speelman on Chess

Jonathan Speelman
Sunday July 22, 2007
The Observer

July is a prime time for chess, as evinced by the latest edition of Mark
Crowther’s splendid weekly magazine "The Week in Chess" (TWIC –
), which contains no fewer than 3700 games
from 33 different events, currently in progress or recently finished; plus
news of a further couple of dozen soon to get underway.
Of the latter, I should mention the 40th Biel Chess Festival where play
starts tomorrow and the 8th Montreal International, only a little weaker,
which began on Thursday. This was preceded by the Canadian Open
Championship, which was won by the Chinese grandmaster Bu Xiangzhi – who has
gone on to Biel, ahead of a strong group half a point behind, including
Nigel Short, who is playing in Montreal.

Victory by a Chinese player would have been extraordinary just a few years
ago but since 1980, when they first began to take an interest in our form of
"International Chess", Chinese players have come on in leaps and bounds.
Indeed, China is now a chess superpower and proved so graphically at last
year’s Turin Olympiad when the men came second and the women third for
easily the best result overall.
The Chinese progress has been underpinned by huge government support and
testing competition in numerous tough events. The latest such pitted their
players as a team against a team of foreigners and proved, against the
trend, to be something of a reversal. It was the 4th Taiyuan GM Match: a
double round "Scheveningen System tournament" (whereby each Chinese player
faced each foreigner twice but team mates didn’t play) which, with a
generous smattering of rest days, took place in the Chinese city from July
7th to 14th

Commensurate with its status, China currently has seven top hundred players
and on paper the four in Taiyuan, Wang Yue (the world number 22) Ni Hua
(31), Zhang Pengxiang (65) and Wang Hao (102 but equal 100th) significantly
outrated their visitors just two of whom are in the top hundred: Vadim
Zvjaginsev (Russia 51), Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria 52), Karen Asrian
(Armenia) and Csaba Balogh (Hungary). However, even today Western
grandmasters still have an edge in experience over their Chinese
counterparts and it is perhaps this which finally counted.

In a close contest the first half was drawn 8-all but the foreigners won
round five by 3-1 to take a serious lead. which they maintained in round six
and added to in the penultimate round. This left the Chinese three point
behind with a round to go and while they did win the final round 2.5 – 1.5
as Wang Yue defeated Cheparinov for the second time, the final score was
still 17-15 in the foreigners’ favour. The individual scores were:
Zvjaginsev 5.5/8, Wang Yue 5, Wang Hao, Asrian and Cheparinov 4, Balogh 3.5;
and Zhang Pengxiang and Ni Hua 3.

The top scorer Zvjaginsev, a 30-year-old Muscovite, is an especially
interesting player with a highly eclectic style. It was he who instituted a
recent mini trend of playing (1 e4 c5) 2 Na3!? against the Sicilian Defence
and his unconventional play can be highly appealing. I particularly liked
this slow burning but ultimately extremely violent effort.

Vadim Zvjaginsev v Zhang Pengxiang

Taiyuan 2007 (round 5)

Sicilian Defence

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 Qe2!? Very typical of Zvjaginsev this introduces a sort
of King’s Indian Attack.

3…Nc6 4 c3 Nf6 5 g3 Be7 6 Bg2 d5

Certainly not forced but if Black remains reticent in the centre then
eventually White will play d4 himself.

7 e5 Nd7 8 d3 b5 9 h4 Rb8 10 0-0 0-0 11 Bf4 c4!? This gains space on the
queenside but allows White firmly to cement the e5 pawn.

12 d4 b4 13 Qc2 bxc3 14 bxc3 Qa5 15 Ng5 g6 16 Nd2 Threatening 17 Nxc4

16…Nb6 17 a4! Forced against the threat of …Na4 attacking c3 and
preparing to invade on b2.

17…Bd7

SEE DIAGRAM ABOVE RIGHT

18 Ra2! This lovely prophylactic move shores up the queenside while White
prepares slowly to strike on the kingside. It reminds me of a win years ago
at Hastings by Ulf Andersson against George Botterill when in even more
extraordinary fashion Black doubled his rooks behind a pawn on a6 blockaded
by a White pawn on a5!

18…Rb7 19 Rfa1 Rfb8 20 h5 Na8 21 hxg6 hxg6 22 Ndf3 Kg7 22…Rb3 looks like
a

good idea to pressure c3 but White will Zhang Pengxiang (Black)

Vadim Zvjaginsev (White to play)

defend the pawn with 23 Bd2 and then turn his attention back to the
kingside. For example if Nd8 24 Bh3 Nb6 25 Kg2 slowly teeing up on the h
file when if 25…Nxa4 (25…Bxa4? 26 Nxe6! is simpler) 26 Nxe6 Nxe6 27
Rxa4! Bxa4 28 Bxe6 Kf8 29 Bxf7! Kxf7 30 e6+ and White blasts through.

23 Bh3 Rh8 24 Kg2 Qd8 25 Rh1 a5!? Preparing a highly inventive blow. If
instead 25…Na5 26 Raa1! Nb3 27 Rae1 followed by 28 Bg4 Black’s counterplay
is very limited.

26 Raa1 Nb4! Sacrificing a piece for just a pawn to create connected passed
pawns.

27 cxb4 axb4 28 a5 b3 29 Qd2 Nc7 30 a6 Ra7

Zhang Pengxiang (Black)

Vadim Zvjaginsev (White to play)

31 Nxf7! Instinctively returning the piece to smash through on the kingside
and quite rightly so. If 31 Bg4 Rxa6 32 Rxh8 Qxh8 33 Rh1? Qxh1+! 34 Kxh1 Ra2
the passed pawns win.

31…Kxf7 32 Bg5 b2?! After this desperate move White wins fairly easily.
32…Kg8 was much better but White still seems to be first after 33 Bg4 Rxh1
34 Rxh1 Rxa6 35 Rh6! Be8 36 Qc1! Qe7 37 Qh1!.

33 Bxe7 bxa1Q 34 Bxd8 Qxh1+ 35 Kxh1 Rxh3+ 36 Kg2 Rh5 37 g4 Now 37…Rh8 will
be met by 38 Qg5 so Zhang Pengxiang resigned.